Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Pennies from Heaven, Again!

Everybody loves Wally Gator, or they should!

Or, How I became a Gator Guy!

In the vein of "When one door closes, another opens, though sometimes, it's just a window!

I guess you could say that this is going to be an awful big penny! 

I initially was strongly attracted to an Aspen green, with tan interior, 2003 Navigator that I found on CL. The only problem was that it was in the Sacramento area, Rancho Cordova to be exact. I have described my attempt to buy that particular example. It didn't work out, and after looking I found an Aviator for sale in Sacramento proper. 

How would you describe this color?

No more black interiors!

Whatever. No more kids in my backseat.

This Aviator looked really good in the pictures and the mileage was acceptable, at 154K. It was a deluxe model with just about everything that was available as an option in that year, including a built in video player and 4WD. The body and paint were as good as they looked in the photos, the interior wasn't perfect, but the seats were just a bit worn without any tears or holes. The dash finish looked almost completely intact. Overall, it was pretty presentable, but as an older luxury vehicle it had gone through the hands of second and third owners who had let the condition slide. This figures into the rest of the story. 

The car was a lien sale. The seller of the car was a small independent auto mechanic service shop that also had a business selling aftermarket wheels. The lady that owned the car had let it sit after it developed several problems, notably a lit CEL. She didn't want to spend too much money on the repairs, but she brought it in to the shop to have the problems addressed. The seller showed me the work order.

A new battery, an oil change, plugs, and a couple of ignition coils. Diagnostics, several emission sensors, two window regulators, code resetting and few other things. The total for this work was over 2,800 dollars. Shop labor is at least 140.00 an hour, so it all adds up. The car was now running okay, but it was still tripping a code for some type of evaporative emission sensor. When the shop contacted the owner for an okay for the additional work, she never called them back. This went on for quite a while. It became quite apparent that she wasn't going to pay the bill. They went through all the proper procedures, sending the notices through the mail, finally initiating the lien procedure. This all started in April, the lien sale became cleared in June, and we are now in November. The shop was trying to recover their expenses. They hadn't been able to sell it quickly. The current high price of gas is keeping buyers away from these older V8 powered SUVs. Another thing that didn't help was the color, an unusual hue called Ash Gold Metallic. It is kind of a gold/grey mixed with light sea foam green pearl. Distinctive yes, combined with an ivory interior. It looks much better in person than it sounds. Though it was listed in the ad as "yellow." That probably kept some potential buyers away! I actually liked it because it was uncommon, and I don't want anymore dark colored cars. 

Unfortunately, the shop never completed all the work needed to have the car smogged. The seller told me that they preferred to sell it "as is." It was obvious to me that it could be bought that way, quite a bit below the 5,500.00 current asking price. The seller was very honest, they needed the car gone because it was just taking up space that they could use for a paying customer's car. They couldn't leave a customer's car or the Aviator parked outside because the neighborhood was kind of sketchy. It was really becoming a pain in the neck.

The lien sale paperwork wasn't really a problem, it was all sorted out and it maintained a clear title, I had done a little research prior to going  up to look at the car. The problem was the lack of a smog check. I told the seller that I wouldn't buy the car without a clear smog check. He didn't want to invest any more money into it, but agreed that if I gave him a couple days that he would look into it, and give me a call, once it was smogged. Never, I must empathize, never, ever, buy a car without a clear smog check. Once you've bought it, then you are stuck with it. If it can't pass smog, then you can't complete the transfer and registration in your name. 

I went home and I never heard back from that seller. It was his mistake not to have the smog ready, I liked the car and probably would have bought it that day. 

This opportunity didn't pan out either, and I was getting a bit discouraged. 

Most of the earlier Navigators that I found typically had 200+ thousand miles on the clock, and an interior condition that reflected that length of service.  This is not a criticism of the sellers, they bought the car to use, not to preserve it for the next owner. I know that these vehicles are tough and long lived, and even with 200K on the clock, there's still a lot of life left in these beasts. 

It really didn't look that bad!

It was the painted dash that looked the worst.

It was clean when they first listed it.

I had found a similar 2003 'Gator for sale in Fremont, it looked okay in the photos, and it was certainly cheap enough at 3,999.00. I figured that it would be a good idea to go look at this one, since it was close to home, and take it for a test drive. I'd never even been inside of one of these before. Mileage was low, only 125,000. It must have been a hard 125K! It was parked behind an auto repair shop along with several other forgotten and forlorn candidates. It was filthy, the tires were low on air, and the battery needed to be jumped. Once it started, it actually ran and idled quite well. The seller told me that it had been bought at auction. The body and paint were actually very good, only needing a good wash and wax. The interior, not so much. The seats were worn but not torn, but the dash had a lot of that "satin nickel finish"  (read that as silver painted plastic)  worn off around the push buttons and dash controls. Did the previous drivers tape sandpaper to their finger tips?  Those same drivers had also managed to break a couple of the control knobs. But I wasn't there to criticize, I was there to test drive!

It may have annoyed the seller but I repeatedly asked, "The brakes work, right?" I didn't want this thing to run amok in traffic.  

I checked the brake action before I left the parking lot anyway, just to be sure. Surprisingly, the thing didn't feel particularly gigantic, since I'd been used to driving my own F150 for years. While it was old, it didn't look particularly gargantuan or old fashioned in the traffic mix. There were lots of equally sized crew cab pick ups, Expeditions, and Tahoes in traffic all around me.

The experience was about what I expected, the steering pulled a bit to one side, but it didn't dart when I applied the brakes, no screeching either. Acceleration and braking were both strong, though a succession of warning lights flashed on the dash. The four wheel drive system appeared to work. Most of the power goodies and accessories also seemed to work. When I brought it back it idled as smoothly as a Lincoln should. 

Was I seriously considering making an offer? Heck no! But I'd gotten what I wanted out of this encounter. 

This was an example that could be saved, rehabbed, and returned to service as a presentable hobby vehicle. Or it would most likely be bought to be used as a big work truck. Plenty of size, grunt, and a lot of life left in it for that function. 

Still, as a mental exercise, I mulled over how this thing could be rehabbed. I thought that after a careful cleaning the dash could be masked and resprayed with matte silver paint, and the push buttons could be treated with some clear polyurethane. The seats could be reconditioned and re-colored, and various broken bits could be replaced by wrecking yard finds. I didn't find the paint color to be that attractive, a dark heather grey/green but it looked like it could easily be touched up and waxed. Over all it could be fixed up, but I wasn't looking for that much of a project. 

Sensing my disappointment, my Wife helped by showing me the vehicles that she had found on Facebook Marketplace. We were primarily looking for Aviators. They were about what I expected. Higher mileages, several with aftermarket big booming sound systems or DONK like wheels. Along with the mandatory worn out front seats, covered by those awful stretch nylon seat covers, as well as a badly worn and stained steering wheel. Yuck!

Then I decided to look on Sacramento area CL. 

And this is what popped up!  As shiny as a new penny! But would it be as nice in person? 

Stay tuned for another chapter in the Gator Guy chronicles..